Sunshine (UK - DVD R2)

The summer may be over, but Peter Martin has finally found Sunshine...

The careers of Danny Boyle and Alex Garland seem to be consistently intertwined. Following his 2000 adaptation of Garland's novel The Beach, director Boyle called upon the writer to pen the screenplay for his post-apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later.

Fast-forward to 2007 and a sequel to 28 Days Later hits cinemas with producers' credits for both Boyle and Garland. The reason for their relatively minimal commitment to the film? They were too busy collaborating once more; on sci-fi thriller Sunshine.

The movie starring Cillian Murphy ( 28 Days Later, Red Eye), Chris Evans ( Fantastic Four) and Michelle Yeoh ( Police Story 3, Tomorrow Never Dies) was greeted with disappointing box-office, but film fans now have the chance to re-evaluate it as it arrives on DVD...

Feature

The sun is dying. With Earth's source of energy about to go Supernova, mankind comes up with a plan; detonate a bomb in the sun and kick-start the birth of a new star. Unfortunately, the first attempt at this went awry when Icarus 1, the space-craft sent to do the deed, disappeared without trace. And so it falls to the crew of Icarus 2 to try again. There's just the small matter of insane crew-mates, perilous space-walks and a limited supply of oxygen.

A budget of £20 Million may be relatively small for a sci-fi adventure, but Sunshine looks like it cost significantly more. It holds its own in comparison to Hollywood blockbusters because the CGI creates a visually arresting movie with an array of special effects that are unlike anything seen before. However, Sunshine isn't driven by the CGI; rather the characters and the story.

The cast is pretty solid too; Cillian Murphy is as reliable as ever and, if the film accomplishes anything, it's showing us there's more to Chris Evans than the Fantastic Four's Johnny Storm. It's refreshing to see a group of characters in a relatively mainstream movie that are not necessarily likable. Over the course of a relatively slender running time, they are faced with a multitude of ethical dilemmas. Whether these are the ‘correct’ decisions gives the audience something to ponder.

For the most part, Sunshine is an intelligent and well paced movie. It's therefore a slight shame that seventy minutes in, it ditches the sci-fi angle and switches to horror film for its final quarter. This kind of genre change isn't new to cinema (look to The Green Mile and The Descent as two recent precedents) but it doesn't make it any less jarring. This is 75% Solaris, 25% Jason X.

Movie-buff trivia states that Sunshine went through a torturous thirty-five rewrites, which makes the ending even more baffling. Surely the denouements of those other thirty-four versions could have been better than the one we got? It's true that you can't judge a film simply on its finale, but the bitter after-taste that Sunshine leaves tends to erase the good work it had done in the first three quarters.

Video

Sunshine is presented in anamorphic widescreen at the original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. It has to be said that the disc has its work cut out when it comes to picture quality; half of the movie takes place in relative darkness while the other half takes place in eye-retina damaging brightness. It's a relief that the disc truly delivers in terms of contrast and clarity. The picture is sharp and the colours full of depth.

Audio

A 5.1 Dolby Digital track does Sunshine some favours, complimenting the fine picture quality to create a winning experience for home-cinema enthusiasts. Dialogue is crisp and clear while special effects are given added weight by making use of the sub-woofer. Surround sound effects are a little limited, but this cannot detract from a fine audio mix.

Extras

Sunshine has been treated to two commentaries. The first is with director Danny Boyle, who gives a thorough insight into the long journey from script to screen. The second is with Dr. Brian Cox from the University of Manchester, who acted as a scientific consultant for the movie. This is not quite as dry as you'd expect and Cox makes a surprisingly good commentator.

There are a number of deleted scenes, including an alternate ending. Sadly, none of these really add much difference to the overall effect of the film and were presumably trimmed to keep the film to a buttock-friendly running time.

Those who followed the film's progress of the internet will have probably seen the ‘Production Diaries’ before. They range from nauseating back-slapping sessions to genuinely interesting ‘making ofs’.

Beefing up that extras list are the addition of two short films which Danny Boyle was eager to bring to a wider audience. Dad's Dead, a gritty and innovative film surely has the edge over the, frankly dull, Molehills. Finally, we have the theatrical and teaser trailers.

Overall

A fine presentation of a movie that, while ultimately disappointing, holds enough merit to warrant a cursory glance from sci-fi fans. While this is—barring A Life Less Ordinary—Danny Boyle's weakest hour and forty minutes, it is not quite the mess you may have been led to believe. However, due to the flaws of the finale, this is one to stick on the rental queue rather than the shelf.

10th September 2007 20:09#3

I like this movie a ton. You know the last 25% of the movie is basically gonna happen the way it does, because the seeds are planted earlier on giving into mini thriller scenes. I liked the way everything played out, really i couldn't see a different ending by Boyle this is just the way he does things.

So why are people so picky about the ending of this film?

If you read up on the film some of the people involved in conceptual science parts of the film have interesting ideas. Earlier drafts of the movie have some different tech involved as well that would make for a great sci-fi book.

10th September 2007 20:10#4

I was waiting to see this for absolutely ages and finally got the limited edition region 3 disc. I prepared myself for a solaris type film with a disappointing third act as most reviews state - what I found was by far the best film of the year. As this review mentions, even though the budget was small (and released by Fox Searchlight Pictures, the oft'considered "art house" devision of Fox) the special effects were outstanding and stand just as good, if not better than most big budget movies. Together with the visuals, the music score was incredible - very haunting which just put you on the slight edge you needed to gear up for the much-maligned third act. This in my opinion was certainly not a disappointment. In fact I thought it complemented the preceeding two thirds perfectly. I don´t want to give any spoilers, so won´t mention specifics, but yes - it does turn into a stalk´n´slash third act - but they way in which it is protrayed works extremely well. It´s simply not just another Jason, Michael Myers or a killer with bad teeth and quirky haircut throwing lots of gore around....he is a rather spiritual killer (fitting in with the tone of the movie) - the film makes it ambiguous as to what he actually is and using that with the final moments of the Icarus brings a rather mystical ending - think The Fountain but with a horror element.

18th September 2007 22:02#8

I strongly wanted to dislike the ending portion of this movie the first time I watched it, but I've seen the movie about 4 or 5 times now and I don't think theres any major changes I would make to the plot.

With Danny Boyle you can always expect him to throw in a genre twist, and I'm glad he did so because it was hinted at earlier in the movie, and it kept things in the third act on edge. Otherwise they would've just had a bit more character drama..flown into the sun..and you'd have another version of "The Core", but the psychological aspects of this movie make it something else.

And thats just thoughts on the plot..the performances and up there and the visuals are near flawless.

1st March 2008 5:53#9

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